1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to "rotary" or "round" baling machines of the type used to form "round" or cylindrically shaped bales of hay or like crop material. More particularly, the present invention provides an electronic monitoring and control system for semi-automatically controlling a baling machine, the system providing visual and/or audible signals to the operator which prompt him as to the status of the bailer and the action to be taken by him.
2. The Prior Art
Round balers of the prior art may generally be classified as one of two types, that is, non-automatic or automatic. Non-automatic balers are typified by Vermeer U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,197. These balers are characterized by the fact that they have a single bale forming chamber and an operator must manually control all operations such as stopping the forward motion of the baler and the tractor towing it, initiating and then stopping the wrapping operation which wraps twine around the rolled bale, and opening and closing a rear gate, the opening of the gate permitting the rolled and wrapped bale to be ejected from the rear of the baler. Furthermore, the operator must maintain a watch over the baler so that he may stop the forward motion when it is time to wrap a bale. This is difficult and tiresome for an operator who is sitting in the tractor pulling the baler since he must also look forwardly of the tractor to insure that he steers it along the windrow of the material being baled.
More recently, continuous automatic round balers have been developed which do not require that the forward motion of the baler be stopped after each bale is rolled. These balers, as exemplified by Crane et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,999 are provided with two bale-forming chambers. The rolling of one bale is initiated in a forward bale-forming chamber while a previously formed bale is wrapped with twine in a rear chamber and then ejected through a rear gate. When the gate is closed a partially rolled bale in the foward chamber is transferred to the rear chamber where the rolling is completed prior to wrapping and then rearwardly ejecting the wrapped bale. The operation is continuous and, absent malfunction, requires no intervention by the operator.
While the automatic balers represent a great advance over the non-automatic balers of the prior art, the automatic balers are much more expensive and have many more parts thus increasing the possibility of breakdown. Furthermore, automatic balers still require that the operator keep watch over the baler operation to insure that there is no malfunction.
Some attempts have been made to provide non-automatic balers with features which eliminate some of their disadvantages and tend to make their operation more automatic. For example, Boldenow et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,429 provides an electronic circuit for controlling the wrapping of twine around a bale. The wrapping operation is initiated by manual actuation of a switch by the operator after which the circuit controls the wrapping apparatus and terminates its operation when the wrapping is completed. Anstee et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,743 discloses that a switch may be located on a baler to close a contact completing a circuit to a visual and audible indicator to thereby signal the operator that a full bale has been rolled and the tractor should be stopped while the bale is wrapped. However, to Applicant's knowledge there does not exist in the art a semi-automatic baler wherein the only manual operation required by the operator is stopping and starting forward motion of the baler and wherein visual and/or audible indicators are provided in the vicinity of the operator to indicate malfunctions and the progress of the baling operation.